By SCOTT NILES Courier staff writer
July 18, 2008 12:38 pm
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OTTUMWA — 4-H members got a chance to show their stylish side on Thursday at the 4-H Expo Clothing Show.
There were three categories that the participant could enter: fashion review, clothing selection and a new event, the $15 challenge.
Each category is judged differently and has different requirements.
The fashion review category is where the participants purchase materials and make their own clothing. They are judged on how well the garment fits, whether they had to make alterations, how well it is sewn, what kind of care it takes (dry cleaning, pressing, none, etc.), how much they spent on materials.
The winners for that category were: junior (grades 4-6), Anna Phillips and Tayler Jones; intermediate (grades 7-9), Sarah Beadle; senior (grades 10-12), Amanda Steele and Rachel Beadle.
The second category was the clothing selection. In this category, participants were not limited on how much they could spend, but they weren’t encouraged to purchase the most expensive outfit either. This category was judged on how well the contestants were able to match their outfits (with both colors and accessories), why they chose what they did, where they will be able to wear it and how many times, how much it cost and what kind of care it takes.
Winners in this category were: juniors, Amy Hart, Taylor Holman and Ashley Pilcher; intermediate, Alyssa Fangmann and senior, Stephanie Huber.
The last category was one that was just added this year. It was the $15 challenge. The participants could only spend up to $15 on their entire outfit and accessories and they had to be purchased at a secondhand store, garage sale or somewhere that sold used clothing.
Winners in this category were: juniors, Jennifer Klodt and Danae Moses; intermediate, Emma Tanner and senior Sara Tanner.
Winners from the junior level were awarded ribbons and medallions; intermediate winners will go to Iowa City to participate in a fun day fashion show event and senior level winners will go to the Iowa State Fair to compete.
Eddyville Resident Sara Tanner, 18, was the senior winner for the $15 challenge. She bought her outfit at Playdough’s Closet in Des Moines.
She said since she is going to college next year she wanted to buy an outfit that was casual and that she could wear out with friends.
“Recently I have done a lot of thrift store shopping,” she said. “I kind of like it.”
She said she prefers Playdough’s Closet and Goodwill for her thrift store shopping.
Hedrick Resident Kayla Emery, 14, also participated in the $15 challenge this year and said it wasn’t as tough as she thought it would be.
“I usually have higher price taste and I wanted a challenge,” she said.
Though she doesn’t usually thrift shop, after seeing what she was able to get for the price, she said she might start doing it more often.
She chose her clothes by what she was comfortable in and the colors she liked.
“It was actually kind of fun,” she said.
Ottumwan Jennifer Klodt, 12, was one of the outstanding junior winners of the $15 challenge. She said her outfit only cost $4.75.
“I got it at the Salvation Army,” she said. “I just liked it because it matched and it looked good.”
She said it is something she would wear to school or church.
This is her second year participating in the clothing show.
Hedrick Resident Kaitlyn Emery, 6, loved participating in the $15 challenge and impressed the judges by how well she was able to do with budgeting, interviewing about her outfit and what she chose.
“I picked my favorite color,” she said, wearing her pink top.
Rhonda Beadle, superintendent of the event, said Emery had a very good knowledge of fashion.
“She really wooed the judges,” Beadle said.
She will be in first grade next year and plans on participating in the events in the future.
She said she will be proud to wear her outfit at school, church and out shopping.
“I really like shopping,” she said.
Ottumwan Rachel Beadle, 16, partipated in all three events and was the winner of the fashion review and said she was proud of the dress she made.
“I learned to sew from my mom,” she said.
She said she made the dress with her favorite colors and wanted to be able to wear it to dressy events.
“I wear the outfits I make a lot,” she said.
She has made outfits for the show for the last four years.
“I think dresses are my favorite thing to make,” she said.
Agency Resident Anna Phillips, 12, participated in two of the events: the fashion review and the clothing selection. She was chosen as the outstanding junior for the fashion review.
For her project, she made pajama pants and a robe from Hawkeye material.
“I’m a big Hawkeye fan,” she said. “It was fun to make.”
For the clothing selection, she said she chose something she would be able to wear to church, weddings or dances.
“My mom and dad have some friends that are getting married,” she said.
Her accessories were picked by what she felt comfortable in.
“I normally wear sandals and a hair band, so that is what I chose for accessories,” she said. “I had fun shopping for it. It’s fun to go shopping.”
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.
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